SUPPLY CHAIN ARTICLES

• Picasso, Pick-Up Lines, & Personalized Medicine: mRNA's Path Forward

  Overall, my presentation on what the mRNA industry can learn from the artist Picasso singled out a few specific areas from which I felt our industry could garner greater inspiration and operational prowess. But given how “collaborative” many of these sources of inspiration are, I’ve introduced each of my takeaways with a surprisingly relevant (albeit bad) art-themed pick-up line. After all, if there’s one sector that knows it takes more than one to “tango,” it’s the mRNA industry.

• 4 Risk Mitigation Strategies For mRNA Production

  Planning and procuring custom materials needed to manufacture mRNA remains a top concern. This article shares risk mitigation strategies for multi-sourcing, S&OP process, packaging size, and material expiry.

• "Mirror, Mirror…": Reflections On Reducing mRNA Production COGS

  Here, I outline three overarching words of wisdom I gleaned from Life Edit Therapeutics’ April Sena; Tune Therapeutics’ Tyler Goodwin; and University of Sheffield’s Adi on how the mRNA/RNA industry can better control production costs — particularly as it relates to raw material sourcing and usage.  

• The Expanding Patent Landscape For RNA-Based Therapeutics

  The COVID-19 pandemic thrust RNA-based therapeutics into the spotlight. Before that, only a handful had received regulatory approval. Why are RNA-based therapeutics seeing more patent activity now and how should biotech companies mitigate patent risks? Attorneys from Neal Gerber Eisenberg share their insights.

• The mRNA Supply Chain Revolution: Materials, Methods, And Momentum

  mRNA innovation now hinges as much on manufacturing materials as on molecular design, with novel inputs shaping performance, cost, and scalability. As these less-mature materials move rapidly into production, strategic material selection and supplier alignment are becoming critical to manufacturing resilience and long-term success.

• Beyond The Gold Standard(s): Modernizing Oligonucleotide Synthesis

  A few weeks ago, I had the chance to sit down with OPT Congress speaker Phil Baran, Richard Lerner Chair Professor, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research. Baran was slated to (and did) present a keynote on the innovations shaping the next generation of oligo synthesis. Here, I share the biggest takeaways I had from our conversation, touching on how he sees the science of oligo chemistry and manufacturing advancing in the near and far future.